Playing Ketchup

Mike FloresThursday, July 17, 2008

This was always very confusing for me. I would just think of the little Heinz packets—okay they were probably some kind of non-Heinz generic catsup packets—in the cafeteria. You know, next to the little paper packages of salt or pepper for your fries? Do they still have those?

What the teacher meant was that some children were always behind, not paying attention behind their serial killer glasses, whatever, had to "catch up" ...playing ketchup.

That's what we're doing this week, not because we weren't paying attention, but more because we were busy paying attention to the near future of Eventide. However, we are still in the middle of a Constructed PTQ season, damn it, and there are two weeks of results to be analyzed.

Week of June 28

Faeries

Merfolk

Elementals

Quick 'n Toast

Kithkin

Black-Red

Doran

Red-Green Aggro

Red-Green Mana Ramp

Green-White

Mono-Red Shamans

Black-Green Elves

Week of July 5

Faeries

Elementals

Kithkin

Quick 'n Toast

Black-Green Elves

Doran

Five-Color Shamans

Red-Green Shamans

Merfolk

Solar Flare

What is clear from the last two weeks of PTQ results is that Faeries has gone from a legitimate contender to completely Constructed unplayable. Faeries seems like one of the worst possible choices to play in this metagame!

Certainly you are too clever to consider playing Faeries (its performance being so weak, with so few Top 8 appearances and a commensurately pitiable number of Pro Tour invitations acquired), but in the unlikely case that you might find yourself paired against someone five or six weeks out of date (remote as that possibility may be), you may want to consider some of the recent developments in this nearly forgotten archetype (you know, in the off chance that a black cat crossed some wretch's path and he accidentally found four Bitterblossoms and had no other cards to play)... but probably not.

Main deck, Gavin went to 26 lands, up from the 24 of the early season (unless you count Robert Seder's accidental 28 in Hollywood). Additionally, he made the full leap, cutting all copies of the under-performing Broken Ambitions, replacing all four with Thoughtseize. Thoughtseize is superior in the Faeries mirror, allowing the active player to remove Bitterblossom from the opponent's opening hand even on the draw; perhaps more importantly, Osyp Lebedowicz points out that this swap is key in Faeries beating the rogue Green-White "Little Kid" deck (Thoughtseize can get rid of Gaddock Teeg before he hits play, whereas Broken Ambitions is just another card blanked by Gaddock Teeg).

Out of the sideboard, Gavin played two different cards that are very effective in the Elementals matchup (Elementals being one of the most successful non-Faeries decks this season):

Probably just the best option in the format for any blue deck against the card Reveillark. Reveillark has not yet been leveraged in an infinite combination in Block (unlike Standard), but it is still a potent source of card advantage, especially with the Faeries deck down in main deck permission; Faerie Trickery erases it forever.

Basically the most impressive possible spell against the evoke mechanic. Draw two cards, eh? I'll draw two as well... and thanks for the body! Take 2!

All kidding aside, Faeries was hands-down the most successful deck of the last two weeks, and nothing seems to be in position to challenge it for top spot in Lorwyn / Shadowmoor Block. There is really only one deck that can claim a legitimate and sizable advantage in the Faeries matchup, with most other decks caught playing ketchup against the card advantage of a Bitterblossom and the versatile potency of Cryptic Command.

We've highlighted Faeries—and more or less every article regarding this format has highlighted Faeries—from the beginning... So let's focus on some of the other qualifying and all-around interesting decks from around the Internet.

None of these three creature-hating creatures is going to win any land speed records... but Demigod of Revenge might. The absolute best kind of a long-game threat in a format full of black removal, dominated by black and blue, Demigod of Revenge resists permission and kills very quickly, in the air.

Wilson's spell suite is a study in efficient instants... Everything but Incendiary Command that is; take 4, by the way.

In the same Top 8 as Wilson's black-red overload deck was this Mono-Red Shamans deck by Michael Rooks.

Basically everyone is a Shaman, meaning that when Rage Forger hits play a little later in the game, the offense will go Biggie Sized. Incandescent Soulstoke pumps every creature, Crusade-style, but I don't think that its "you can't counter me" / haste angle gets as much play as in the more traditional Elementals deck.

Again, the spells are all kinds of efficient, all Standard- (or even Extended-) quality. Take 4.

The main innovation in Simpson's look at Quick 'n Toast is the inclusion of Devoted Druid. This little Druid's presence is there to play a faster Mulldrifter or Shriekmaw (turn three) at full value, or to steal a little extra from Mind Spring.

Playing Doran in this sort of a deck also gives Patrick the excuse to run Murmuring Bosk. We think of Murmuring Bosk as a "green" card, but two of the three colors it produces are black and white, two colors both central to the traditional Solar Flare. In this case, green is mostly gravy.

Last but not least, I just wanted to highlight the Nashville appearance of last year's Storyteller, Evan Erwin, in the Top 8 with Kithkin. It's nice to see Evan doing well, and to see that Kithkin—onetime leader in this metagame—are still making Top 8s, even with the clear ascendancy of Faeries.

A Little Taste of Standard

In addition to a Faeries-full PTQ weekend, the Saturday-Sunday combination of June 28 and 29 brought us a Standard Grand Prix in Buenos Aires. Here is how the Top 8 broke down:

Pro Tour superstar Olivier Ruel racked up yet another Grand Prix Top 8 with a Quick 'n Toast-esque Reflecting Pool control deck playing an interesting sixty-first card... Platinum Angel! A pair of Mind Shatters started out up front, alongside a pair of Pact of Negations. Not a lot of downside to those Pacts with Platinum Angel in play; Ruel liked the seven drop so much, he sideboarded a second.

My favorite deck from the Buenos Aires coverage was the Mono-Red deck played by Tomoharu Saito and Shuuhei Nakamura; both Japanese players finished in the money, albeit out of the Top 8.

The "other" black card in this deck is Demigod of Revenge, probably the best threat in its cycle of highly impressive five-drops. Being black, Demigod of Revenge is resistant to many of the same removal spells, and having 4 toughness makes up a lot of the difference (as with Ashenmoor Gouger). Unlike its 4/4 three-drop cousin, the jury is not out on Demigod of Revenge. This one just roars and roars until opponents are dead.